Amish Tripathi

Amish Tripathi is synonymous with his first book, The Immortals of Meluha. It became a best seller within a week of its release making its way to the best-seller lists. It is the first of the ShivaTrilogy which centers on Lord Shiva; it is a biographical account of the Hindu deity who in Tripathis’ words was – “just a man, 4000 years ago but is today remembered as the Mahadev (the God of Gods).”

The ShivaTrilogy is set in 1900 BC at the backdrop of Meluha and begins with the arrival of Neelkanth who drinks Somraas and his neck turns blue. Neelkanth is Shiva and he saves the people of Meluha from further wars. The trilogy also describes how gods were human beings ages ago until they achieved immortality as a result of their deeds and actions. Indians refer to those times as the Indus Valley Civilization. In the book, Meluha is referred to as the ‘near-perfect’ empire that was created by Ram many centuries ago. Several publishers declined to publish the first volume of the trilogy - The Immortals of Meluha until it was finally published in 2010 and it went on to become a huge success. It sold more than 125,000 copies and it became one of the best-selling novels of 2010.

Amish Tripathi had initially wanted to write a book on philosophy; however he changed course and turned to mythology. He is an aficionado on history, philosophy and mythology. Literary stalwarts such as Shashi Tharoor, Anil Dharker and Rashmi Bansal have praised his writing style which is reflective of a ‘compelling narrative style’.

Amish Tripathi was born in 1974 and studied at the Cathedral & John Cannon School and St Xavier’s College in Mumbai. He studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Preeti and son, Neel. He has worked in the financial services industry. He is currently working on the third volume of the trilogy - The Oath of the Vayuputras. It is scheduled for release at the end of 2012.

Further, adding to the accolades, The Immortals of Meluha will be made into a film by Karan Johar and the grapevine says that Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra will star in the film. The second volume – The Secret of the Nagas will be launched on August 12, 2012. The Hindiversion of the Immortals of Meluha has also come out; it is titled Meluha Ke Mritunjay.